Yo, yo, I want to send a shout-out to my peeps who reviewed!

liquid mercury: I'm sorry for addicting you to my fic, but to make up for it I will use your suggestion in the upcoming chapters.

Weary-traveler: I'm glad I'm keeping you interested. I hope I continue to do so. :)

Exploding Plastic Inevitable: But you're my *favorite* be-falsettoed legume! I thought you knew that already. :D

And now, on with the fic! Enjoy!

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Chapter Thirteen: Strange, Enchanting Thoughts

***

At dinner, Greta was quiet. This, in itself, was not unusual, but something that *was* unusual was the way that she hadn't looked at another person since she had walked in, nodded at the Professor, and sat down. This was contrary to the norm, since usually she would at least watch everybody having their conversations, adding a soft comment when she felt it was necessary, with a faint but pleasant smile on her face. Evan knew this because he watched her every night at dinner. Hell, he watched every day, whether it was dinner or not. To tell the truth, it was beginning to worry him more than it was worrying his friends. The way he stopped in his tracks every time she walked into his line of sight - it had almost gotten him killed, more than once, when he did it on his skateboard.
But he couldn't stop doing it. He also couldn't figure out *why* he was doing it, which was a puzzle that bothered him to no end. Showing an interest in girls was unusual, true, but this wasn't the first time he'd done it. But the only other times that he'd shown interest in girls was if they were tough - if they could stand up to him at some sport or another. He smiled slightly as he picked at his beets, remembering that one girl in fifth grade who had shown him up at basketball - oh, Greta was moving! She raised her eyes high enough from her food to glance in his direction. As quickly as he could, Evan darted his eyes down at his food, feeling the blood rise to his face. She'd seen him looking, hadn't she, he knew she'd seen him looking-
"Hey, Evan, what do you think, man?" Kurt, oblivious to the entire exchange between the X-Men's quietest member and the X-Men's loudest-up-until-recently member, jabbed his best friend in the ribs, causing Evan to splutter and look up at him, confused. "Well?"
It took a few seconds, but then Evan realized what was going on, and blushed even harder, saying awkwardly, "I think that you should leave me alone, that's what I think." Kurt shrugged and turned back to the animated conversation he was having with Kitty and Jean, leaving Evan to stare back into his beets.

Meanwhile, halfway down the table, another X-Man was staring into her beets. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed Evan and his antics. _What was that whole thing about, earlier?_ she thought, poking at her meatloaf. _And why wouldn't the Professor tell me any more about it? He seemed pretty creeped out, but...I should know what's going on, right? I have a *right* to know._ Her questions raised another. _Why can't I remember? He said something about a "repressed memory," but...well..."repressed" means "held down," right? So...memories that I've been holding down? Ugh, I'm not hungry,_ she thought, pushing her chair out forcefully. Without thinking, she let her eyes dart around the table at her new friends. That was when she spotted the only person who had noticed her stand up - the rest were too absorbed in their conversations. Evan. He had been watching her anyway, and as her gaze drifted over him, for just a second, their eyes locked. As quickly as she could, she turned away and headed for the door.
_Why does he keep looking at me like that?_

***

Greta lay in her bed with her hands crossed behind her head, staring at the ceiling. The sun had just begun to go down, and it was that time of day/night that, in the city, she used to enjoy the most, since the light was perfect that you could see into any lit windows on the street. High up above her, in the skyscrapers, she could see the silhouettes of people working late, getting ready for bed, serving dinner...all the normal things that people would do. But right at this moment, Greta wasn't thinking about her city-days, or about what she knew she *should* have been thinking about - her conversation with the Professor earlier, and her past - no, Greta was thinking about that look that had always seemed to appear on Evan's face when he was looking at her.
That expression had been forcing its way into her mind for weeks, because she knew it *shouldn't* have been familiar to her, and yet it *was.* She couldn't remember having seen it during her time on the streets...who on earth would wear that lovesick expression that *she* had known during her time there? But there was that bizarre sense of deja vu, tearing away at her sense of what was real, solid.
The meaning of the expression was still lost on her, and she was beginning to go crazy wondering what it meant. While she had been annoyed about Evan's excessive staring before, however, she was now a little...well, glad of the attention. Nobody had looked at her in that particular way before, of course, but she had a hunch that it was a good thing.
Ugh! Why was she dwelling on this so much? Weren't there more important things to think about?! Greta bit the inside of her lip, and her brow furrowed, more than she would let anyone else see. She was about to do one of the most difficult things she'd ever done in her life, something she'd never done, but was, nevertheless, *determined* to do: she was going to ask someone for help. After all, hadn't Dr. McCoy taught her that if she couldn't figure something out, she should get help with it?
Rather suddenly to the outside observer, Greta pushed herself off her bed and headed for the door, biting her lip visibly now. Once she had her hand on the doorknob, she paused. Sure, she had resolved to ask somebody...but who? Closing her eyes briefly, she made her decision, then with her jaw locked in a determined position, she opened the door and strode down the hall.

***

Rogue was just settling into _Interview with a Vampire_ for what seemed like the seventieth time when she heard a knock on the door she shared with Kitty. She stopped herself from asking Kitty to answer it - the child-like teen herself was downstairs, trying to figure out if she should be friends with Kurt again or not - and closed her book with a sigh, and stood up to answer the door. It opened with a click, and Rogue was rather surprised to see who was standing there. "Greta? What are you doin' up here?" She opened the door a little wider to let her quiet friend in. "I would've thought you'd be downstairs watchin' movies with everyone else."
The girl stepped slowly inside, and it was then that Rogue noticed, with a cocked eyebrow, that she was wearing a slightly more determined expression than Rogue had ever seen adorning her face - heck, Rogue had never seen her wearing *any* expression. "No," Greta answered curtly, brow knitted; she obviously had something on her mind.
"What's botherin' you?" Rogue asked, curious.
"I've been-" she glanced at Kitty's bed. Rogue gestured for her to sit down, and she complied, waiting for Rogue to sit down on her own bed before starting again. "I've been seeing - uh - Evan...watchin' me for some time now, an' I was wondering, well, exactly *why* he was doin' it." She took a deep breath. Rogue noticed that she was speaking a great deal more boldly than she did usually, and figured that this issue was really buggin' her. "He makes this face when he looks at me, too - it's somethin' like this." She closed her eyes for a second, thinking, then did her best impression of what Evan looked like when he was staring at her. It was all Rogue could do not to laugh. "Can ya tell me what it means?"
The Southerner looked at her for a second, then gave her a rare half-smile. "It means that he likes ya," she said bluntly. Greta looked confused. "You know. Like, romantically?"
Greta's eyes widened. "Like Kurt likes Kitty?" Rogue nodded slowly. "Like in *_Moonstruck_*?" Another nod. "No way!" (Note: Been awhile since I used one of those for Greta, eh?)
"Yes, way."
"Why don't other people say anythin' about it?"
"To tell ya the truth, I think I'm the only one who's noticed, besides you. They're all too busy with their own stuff, and besides, Evan usually keeps matters like this to himself - the only reason *I* noticed is 'cause he doesn't bug me half as much."
Greta looked serious for a moment. "What do ya think I should do 'bout it?"
"Depends on how you feel about it. Like if it's really buggin' ya, you could ask him to cut it out." At Greta's expression, "Or you could ask someone else to ask him to cut it out. Either way. Or you could..." She trailed off.
"Or I could what?" Rogue just looked at her. "What?"
"Well, if you like him back, ya could..." She trailed off again. Greta started to bite her lip. "Ya could...ask him out."
"What?!"
"You know, make a move! Brush up against him or somethin', see how he reacts! But...well, are you ready for a romantic entanglement?"
"I..." she squared her jaw. "I could handle it," she said almost defiantly.
"But the question is, do you want it? Do ya like him?"
"I...don't know." She dropped her gaze to the floor between them. "Maybe," she mumbled.
"I see," Rogue said. "Well, it's up to you. But, listen, I won't tell anyone 'bout this if you don't want me to."
Greta looked up at her again, then stood up, still looking at her. "Thanks, Rogue," she said finally. "You're a great friend." And with that she made her exit.
"Pfft, lovebirds," Rogue dismissed after Greta left, turning again to face her book. She was quickly enmeshed in Anne Rice's writing, and nearly forgot the whole exchange had happened by the second page.

***

Yay! Now we're gettin' somewhere! Coming up soon: more romance, and news about Greta's past. It'll come faster if you give me good reviews (nudge, nudge, wink, wink), and even *faster* if you give me a short html tutorial. :D